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“We have a deal,” Ursula von der Layen and Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said at a news conference. The information was also confirmed by Downing Street, BTA reported.
The trade agreement will enter into force on January 1, 2021.
This came four and a half years after the UK voted to leave the EU, just a week before the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31 and after a night of negotiations.
According to sources overseeing the negotiations, the text of the agreement and related annexes cover some 2,000 pages.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s 11-hour press conference has been delayed. The reason was the refinement of some texts on fishing quotas, on which the UK and the EU cannot reach a consensus.
The contract includes Unprecedented zero duty or quota clauses for all propertyas well as mechanisms for the future solution of various issues in many areas, from aviation and transportation to nuclear cooperation and energy.
“We regain control of our money, borders, laws, commerce and our fishing waters”it said in a British government statement.
Political analyst George Parker told The Guardian it was “The first trade agreement in history in which barriers are raised, not lowered. However, it is great news for companies after months of uncertainty and provides a platform for future cooperation with the EU.”.
However, a number of problems emerged during the negotiations, confirming the prospect of a Brexit without a deal. The main differences revolved around fishing rights and the so-called “level playing field,” measures to prevent unfair competition by lowering standards or using government subsidies.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledged that Brexit without a deal “could lead to a difficult period at the beginning”, but that Britain would face such a scenario.
Even with a free trade agreement eliminating all or most tariffs on goods traded between the UK and the EU, Hillary Benn, chair of the Brexit committee in the British Parliament, told the BBC that exports to Europe would be more -Complicated after January 1 than it has been so far.
“We are concerned about what will happen if trucks that do not have proper documentation show up at Dover. It doesn’t take much to get to new traffic jams. Everyone hopes that the scenes we have witnessed in recent days will not be repeated, but it will depend on the documents and the flow of carriers, and those businesses that have never had to fill out customs declarations will have to. work with new systems. Information technology was delivered too late, the entire infrastructure is unavailable, and there is a shortage of specialists to provide expert advice on what to do. “Hillary Ben commented.
He also believes that the debate over Britain’s relations with the EU will continue long after January 1. “The debate that will remain in British politics will be what kind of relationship we want to have with our neighbors in the future.I hope we are as close as possible. I suspect that this will not be the end of the negotiations with the EU, there will be many things to discuss in the coming months and years. “Ben pointed.
Scottish Minister for Constitutional Affairs Michael Russell expressed his outrage on Twitter, not without reason: “The cynicism and incompetence of the Johnson administration is perfectly illustrated by last night’s headlines. Thus lies the truth of their utter inability to perform the task they claimed has already been done..
Due to lack of time, the agreement will not be ratified by the European Parliament as planned. It will be gradually approved by the 27 member states. On the British side, the government will take the matter to parliament.
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